Monty the ‘Therapy Dog’ Now Available for Checkout to Stressed Yale Law Students

March 22, 2011

Yale Law, maybe one of the most stress-filled of places in an already far too stress-filled world, is introducing a pilot program that will offer a “therapy dog” named Monty for checkout from the library, where many students flock to be stressed. The New York Times reports that Monty is now available for a trial run that started yesterday. For three days, he’ll be at the circulation desk for 30-minute checkout periods. Who is this Monty? Monty is a dog couched in mystery (in fact, Monty was offered a year ago, then deemed “a gag”. Now it seems he’s available for real):

The school is not saying what sort of dog Monty is; what happens to him when school is out of session; or how Monty himself may be kept from becoming overstressed with all his play dates.

Poor Monty. We see him tearing out his own fur and breaking out in rashes in due time. Fortunately for legal types, Monty is hypoallergenic, which makes him better for a wannabe lawyer’s 30-minute stress-release session than, say, James Franco. But will he actually relieve stress? Does anyone care? It’s a dawg in the library!!!

If all goes well, perhaps “Weekdays with Monty” will be implemented all year long at Yale, and Monty himself will be awarded an honorary degree. It’s only just.